Tamzin Outhwaite will be returning to EastEnders after all these years.

The British actress will start filming for her character Melanie Owen in the coming weeks and it is predicted that she will be back on our screens in the New Year.

An EastEnders spokeswoman has said that on her return she will become a regular character on the soap, report the BBC.

Viewers last saw Mel in April 2002, after the death of her beloved husband Steven Owen. Owens, played by Martin Kemp, left behind a debt which resulted in Mel facing time in prison. She dramatically left the country after Phil Mitchell paid £30,000 to bail her out, leaving viewers in complete suspense.

The 46-year-old Tamzin made her first appearance in Albert Square in 1998, speaking about her return to the East End she said, "'EastEnders is in my DNA and I always knew deep down that someday I would revisit Mel; she is a strong independent woman with lots more stories to tell. To be stepping back into Mel’s shoes nearly twenty years after I first started feels just perfect,' reported The Daily Mail.

Tamzin is delighted with Mel's return, 'It was something I just couldn’t refuse!' she gushed.